What Did the Obama Administration Know and When Did It Know It?

Helle Dale /
September 27, 2012

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Libyan President Mohamed Magarief on September 24.

Mounting evidence suggests that Obama officials may have been less—much less—than forthright with the facts of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Reportedly, U.S. intelligence sources knew within the first 24 hours of the attack that not only was al-Qaeda involved, but also which members and even where one of them lived. And yet, Administration officials toed the line unfailingly that the murders were provoked by the YouTube trailer for Innocence of Muslims. Most Americans, however, found this line of argument entirely unconvincing.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice has found herself a particular focus of scrutiny, having been sent as an Administration mouthpiece to the Sunday talk shows five days after the attacks. Rice faithfully repeated the party line categorically over and over that there was no evidence of terrorism involved. Well, either Rice had not been briefed and thus spoke out of ignorance, though parading as an authority, or she was deliberately misleading the public. This makes her guilty of either incompetence or dishonesty.

All of this should be deeply troubling to the American public. It clearly is to members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, who have now rebelled against the Obama Administration’s stonewalling and are demanding answers. The Senators were of course briefed by a grim-faced Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who gave them less information than they were able to obtain from the daily newspapers.

Clearly, acknowledging that terrorism is alive and well comports badly with the Obama Administration’s rhetoric, which has portrayed Obama as having vanquished Osama bin Laden and thus ending the “war on terrorism.”

In letters to Susan Rice and Secretary Clinton, the Senators have now demanded more and better answers. Members of the House of Representatives have also demanded the truth. They and the American people deserve nothing less than honesty and transparency from the White House.